Shopping online? From January, you'll see the discount margin

NEW DELHI: From Jan, e-commerce entities will have to display both the "reduced price" and "prior price" whenever they announce a price cut, including during festive sale seasons. The "prior price" will be the lowest price at which the product was offered up to 30 days before the announcement of discount.The provision is part of the sweeping amendments to Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules notified by the consumer affairs department on Thursday to tighten norms on price transparency, sponsored listings, search-result manipulation and dark patterns.Officials said the move is aimed at bringing greater transparency to online pricing. If consumers find discrepancies in the prices displayed by e-commerce platforms, they can lodge complaints with National Consumer Helpline (NCH).Under the amended rules, every e-commerce entity must be integrated with NCH convergence mechanism. The provision has been introduced as nearly 29% of the 17.7 lakh complaints received by the helpline in 2025 were related to the e-commerce sector. Platforms will also be required to provide complainants with a copy of the complaint as recorded by their grievance officer.

The rules also prohibit e-commerce entities from manipulating search results in a manner that misleads users or affects the relevance of results to a consumer's search query. Sponsored listings must now carry "clear and prominent disclosures" so that consumers can distinguish paid promotions from organic search results.